Read and pray: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race set before us,” (Heb 12:1)
STRIKING THE BODY
Another passage that some misinterpret as referring to perdition actually also refers to the loss of the kingdom and the loss of reward. First Corinthians 9:23-27 says: “I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow worker with it. Do you not know that those who run in a stadium all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. So I run also, not without aim; I fight also, not as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.”
Paul feared that, having preached to others, he himself might be disapproved. Here, Paul was saying that he too could be disqualified. What does being disqualified mean here?
And in what is one disqualified? In these messages, we have emphasized that when reading the Bible, attention must be given to context. Here, too, we must consider the context. In verse 24, Paul compares himself to someone participating in a race in which only one will receive the prize.
Therefore, the issue here is not salvation, but receiving the prize. Paul is speaking about how a saved person can receive the prize; he is not speaking about how an unsaved person can be saved. Only those who are saved, who have believed in the Lord Jesus, are born again, and have become children of God, are qualified to enter the race.
Only the children of God can participate in the race and pursue the prize He desires for us to win. If someone is not a child of God, they are not even qualified to enter the race. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that salvation is gained by running the race.
The Bible never says that if someone can run, they will be saved. If that were the case, few would be saved, and salvation would depend on works. The Bible says that the prize comes through running; God has placed us on a racetrack to run the race.
What is the prize? Verse 25 says: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one.” Here it says that the prize is a crown. We have already mentioned that the crown represents glory and the kingdom.
Therefore, the word “disqualified” does not refer to the loss of salvation. The word “disqualified” in verse 27 means failing to receive the crown and the prize.
If Paul could be disqualified, then we all have the possibility of being disqualified. If Paul could lose his prize and his crown, then each of us also has the possibility of losing the prize and the crown.
Verse 26 indicates the reason for disqualification: “So I run also, not without aim; I fight also, not as one beating the air.” Paul had a purpose and a direction. He was not striking the air. His aim and direction were what he said in 2 Corinthians 5: that he longed to be pleasing to the Lord (v. 9).
Whether he lived or died on this earth, his desire was to please the Lord. How did he run the race? He did not run it carelessly. He had a correct direction and a definite goal. He did not strike the air nor do merely what others told him to do.
Nor did he do something simply because of need. If he worked according to need, he would have to run day and night, for the need was great. We are not for the work, but to please the Lord. If we want to receive the prize, what must we do? “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection” (v. 27).
Many value their own body above the prize. Many consider their own body above God’s will. However, Paul said he mastered his body; he could control it. Paul could control the lusts of his body, the excessive demands of his body, and the desires of his body.
He did not allow his body to prevail. He said he disciplined his body and made it his slave. Whether a Christian can please the Lord depends on whether they can control their body.
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